Resume word of the day: "Experience"

Resume word of the day: "Experience"

WooHoo! Time for another "Resume Word of the Day!". Yeah, yeah, I know I don't do this daily and it's probably not that exciting for you, but it's something I can get excited about (slow day today...you betcha)...cut me some slack...

Resume word of the day is "Experience"...

Merriam-Webster has several definitions for the word experience (look it up here). Some of the definitions refer to experience as a collection of events and related learnings. Another definition refers to individual occurrences (not a collection and not necessarily related to learnings).

On a resume, you generally explain your work roles in a section titled: "Experience". But now and then, I see people who use the word "Experiences" (plural). The former refers to the learning and skills developed. The latter does not. So the appropriate word is "Experience".

I suspect that most of the confusion exists for non-native English speakers since the desire to pluralize is logical, though not colloquial. So if you didn't grow up speaking English, it would be hard to know the difference.Anyway, it's something I see pretty often in resumes and communications from candidates. So just a little tip to help anyone that is struggling with choosing the right word.